Save the Date: Tryouts for 2018 Travel Teams

Tryouts for 2018 travel teams for 9U through 14U will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, July 11-12 at the Batavia High School Fieldhouse. Exact times and nights for each age group will be announced approximately 1 month prior to tryouts, and the free registration for tryouts will open at that time.

2017 BYB Travel Program Overview

After more than 200 players participated in tryouts, Batavia Youth Baseball will be fielding 12 full-time travel teams for the 2017 season for ages 9U through 14U.

The winter practice season runs from January 1 through April 1 with approximately two practices per week. These are held at the Dawg Pound (BYB's indoor training facility) and the Batavia High School Fieldhouse. The regular season runs from April 1 through the 4th of July, with league playoffs generally held the following weekend. BYB travel teams play in the KCBL league. Teams play an 18-game league schedule, mix in a handful of pre-season and exhibition games, host a home tournament, participate in a number of weekend tournaments in the Chicagoland area, and play in an additional road tournament in the Midwest (e.g., St. Louis, Indianapolis, Grand Rapids).

BYB generally offers tryouts for the following season before the current season ends. The early to mid-July tryout dates are announced in the spring and posted on the BYB website. For an overview of how players are evaluated and how teams are formed, read the Travel Operating Procedures file located in the Documents section of this website.

Batavia Youth Baseball is Batavia's largest and oldest baseball program. BYB has been providing baseball programs for the youth of Batavia for more than 60 years. BYB’s travel program has been in existence for more than 24 years and is one of the oldest and most experienced programs in the Fox Valley area. BYB is a volunteer-driven non-profit organization. To play on a BYB team, players must reside within BYB's service boundaries.

The following summarizes BYB’s Travel Programs Features and Benefits:

BYB is governed by a 22 person Board of Directors. Included on the Board are four dedicated positions managing the BYB Travel Program.

BYB is a major feeder program to the Batavia High School baseball program. As Batavia’s ONLY travel program formed exclusively with Batavia players, BYB works with BHS coaches. Many BYB travel players have gone on to play college baseball in Division I, IAA & III programs.

BYB’s travel program practices at the Dawg Pound in the winter. The Dawg Pound is a BYB indoor facility with turf and three batting cages, which provides an opportunity to work on fundamentals during the off season. The Dawg Pound is available exclusively, at no extra cost or fees, to BYB teams.

BYB’s travel program tryouts are open to all Batavia players. No invitation necessary! Evaluators include independent, baseball-experienced individuals (i.e., former coaches & players) with no ties to tryout participants--to provide a fair tryout process.

BYB coaches are selected based on a thorough interview & evaluation process.

BYB’s travel program plays all home games and practices on one of our nine BYB dedicated, Batavia fields.

Tournament Teams

BYB does not believe in full-time travel for 8U, but will be supporting two 8U Tournament Teams for 2017. We will also be looking to form additional Tournament Teams at 9U and 10U. The Tournament Teams allow players and families to experience ‘travel baseball’ without the full-time commitment. The players participate in a full-time in-house schedule and then experience a higher level of competition by participating in a few weekend Chicagoland tournaments and additional practices. Additional benefits / considerations for Tournament Teams include: